Humanitext Reader

Cicero · Letters to Friends §9.12.1-9.12.2

Sending a Speech and Words of Encouragement

Passage 184 of 413 · Latin

Summary

Cicero congratulates Cornificius on the improved climate of Baiae, playfully suggesting it as a supernatural favor, while sending the requested speech for Deiotarus and encouraging him to remain firm and wise under current injustices.

§9.12.1gratulor Baiis nostris, si quidem, ut scribis, salubres repente factae sunt; nisi forte te amant et tibi adsentantur et tam diu, dum tu ades, sunt oblitae sui.
I congratulate our Baiae, if indeed, as you write, they have suddenly become healthy; unless perhaps they love you and flatter you and, for as long as you are present, have forgotten their own nature.
quod quidem si ita est, minime miror caelum etiam et terras vim suam, si ita tibi conveniat, dimittere.
If indeed this is so, I am not at all surprised that even heaven and earth should lay aside their power, if it should thus suit you.
§9.12.2oratiunculam pro Deiotaro, quam requirebas, habebam mecum, quod non putaram.
The short speech in defense of Deiotarus, which you were asking for, I had with me, which I had not expected.
itaque eam tibi misi; quam velim sic legas ut causam tenuem et inopem nec scriptione magno opere dignam; sed ego hospiti veteri et amico munusculum mittere volui levidense crasso filo, cuius modi ipsius solent esse munera.
And so I have sent it to you; which I would like you to read as a slight and meager case, not greatly worthy of being written down; but I wished to send a small gift, light but of coarse thread, to an old host and friend, of the kind his own gifts are accustomed to be.
tu velim animo sapienti fortique sis, ut tua moderatio et gravitas aliorum infamet iniuriam.
I would wish you to be of a wise and brave spirit, so that your moderation and dignity may shame the injustice of others.

Notes

  1. 9.12.1sui — The genitive plural of the reflexive pronoun, serving as the object of the deponent verb `obliviscor` (to forget). It refers back to the subject `Baias` (feminine plural).
  2. 9.12.1quod — A relative connection (qui at the beginning of a sentence), taking the entire preceding clause as its antecedent and serving as the subject of the conditional clause `si ita est`.
  3. 9.12.2levidense crasso filo — Ablative of description. Literally meaning "slight/thinly woven with coarse thread," it is used metaphorically to describe the unpolished and humble quality of the short speech (`munusculum`) Cicero is sending.
  4. 9.12.2velim ... sis — The potential/volitive subjunctive `velim` followed by the present subjunctive `sis` without the conjunction `ut` ("I would wish that you be..."), creating a polite exhortation. `animo sapienti fortique` is an ablative of quality.

Cite this passage

Cicero, Letters to Friends §9.12.1-9.12.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0474.phi056.humanitext-lat1:9.12.1-9.12.2

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